Orwellian Nightmare or Nanny State Run Amok?

I’m not sure how to categorize this story from England. Local governments are surreptitiously adding microchips to garbage cans to weigh the amount of rubbish each household is unloading according to a report in the Daily Mail. It is generally thought that this is the beginning stage of a government tax based on weight, though it’s also possible it could be somehow used to monitor intrusive recycling rules:

The growing threat of a stealth tax on the rubbish we throw away was exposed by startling figures yesterday. More than 2.5million homes now have wheelie bins fitted with microchips to weigh their contents. This is an increase of nearly two-thirds in just a year. The bins, which can be electronically identified and weighed, are designed for ‘pay-as-you-throw’ rubbish tax schemes. …Disclosure of the rapid spread of chipped bins followed the announcement this week of the first council to bring in a bin tax. Bristol City is presenting its scheme as a reward for recyclers, with cash payments to homes that leave out less rubbish. …research by the Big Brother Watch campaign group showed that the use of chipped bins has quietly spread over the past year. In March 2009, a survey based on Freedom of Information inquiries showed there were 42 councils which used bins with microchips. But the latest check, also based on FOI requests, put the number of authorities with electronic bins at 68 – one in five of all those that collect household rubbish. According to the responses from town halls, 2,629,052 homes have now been given bins with chips. …Alex Deane of Big Brother Watch, said: ‘The number of local councils placing microchips in bins is increasing, despite the fact that only one of them has volunteered to trial the Government’s pay-as-you-throw scheme. ‘Councils are waiting until the public aren’t watching to begin surveillance on our waste habits, intruding into people’s private lives and introducing punitive taxes on what we throw away. The British public doesn’t want this technology, these fines, or this intrusion. ‘If local authorities have no intention to monitor our waste then they should end the surreptitious installation of these bin microchips.’

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I sure wish my private refuse company would implement a pricing system that better reflects usage. My family of four generates a small bag each week because we compost and recycle. Our neighbors, an elderly couple, put out two huge trash cans. I plan to address this once I convince Time Warner to offer a la carte television channel subscriptions.